Civilioh fqnbs and william j



c. FONES & w; J. BAULIEU.

FLEXIBLE SHAFT.

' -No.1-77,490. mama May 16, 1876 I VITJVESSES INT "EJVTORS William, Jflawliaw,

v I By l/ir .lffornoz/ material.

OIVILION FQNES AND WILLIAM J. BAULI EU, OF BRIDG EPOBB'OONNL iPRo vEMEN T a FLEXIBLESHAFTS.

v r :Speciiieation forming partof Iietters Patent No. mnaeaaated May 16, 1876;

. a 'April 28,1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that we, GIVILION Forms and WILLIAM J. BAULIEU, both of Bridgeport, in

the county of Fairlield and State of Connecti-- from dental engines to the hand piece or tool,

and from other motors to the machinery or de- 1 vices to be operated. Y

Our objjects are so to construct such shafts of this class as are made of separate springcoils as. to increase theirefiiciency, improve their appearance, add to their strength, less-' on the friction between them" and their enveloping sheaths or'easings, and particularly so to construct the" shaft that it may be reversed at the will o f the operator without unwinding, or losing any of its strength or power, and run equally wellwhen rotating in either direction. Another object we have in view in the construction of our shafts is the formation of sheaths or casings'fOrthe shafts, of construction similar to. that of the shafts themselves.

Our invention consists in the construction of the shaft of thin flat strips or ribbons .of spring-steel, whereby we are enabled to make a shaft which isvery flexible, and at the same :time very strong.

Our invention also consists in a sheath or that of the shaft which it envelops.

. Ourinvention also consists of the combination "of; an inner shaft composed of coiled strips or wires, and ano'uter shaft, sheath, or

casing capable 'of being used asa sheath simply, or as a shaft.

Our invention further consists of a hexible shaft, formed. by, combining three -or more coils, whether round, flat, or of other suitable outline, wound in opposite directions, whereby is secured-an automatic expansion and contraction of the coils, adapting the shaftto operate in either direction in which it may be run, thus rendering the shaft capable of heing quickly reversed, and giving it much of the solidity'of a straight shaft of unyielding back at the'ends of the shaft.

, v l application filed In the accompanying drawings,*Figure1 representsa longitudinal view, partly in sec. t'on,of avportion of our shaft of threocoils, which is shown as broken off at different points, to more clearly indicate the construction of the shaft; and Fig.2 a longitudinal view on a reduced "scale of the shaft, with a portion of, its enveloping shaft, casing, or sheath in seetion. 3

A flexible shaft, A, is composed. of thin flat strips or ribbons a, of spring-steel, coiled, as represented Ill, the drawings, to form smooth-surfaced close-jointed coils, or it may be made of a single strip, turned or'bent The strips of the adjacent coils are coiledtin opposite directions, as shown, for a Well-known purpose,- .and the coils may be three or more in number,

as desired. 1

The twisting-strain onthe coils of the shaft, when in operation, is in the direction of the greatest strength, or in the direction of the width of the ribbons or strips a,-of which the spring-coils'are composed? It will thus be seen that by using such strips not only is the strength of the shaft increased, but there is a saving of metal over-those "shafts made of round wire, as the flat strips may be made quite thin. Theshaft is much'smoother on the'snrface than one made of round wire, and is, therefore, less liable to become en tangled by catching in the clothes of the operator, or in other objects it may come in contact with. Friction, caused by contact between the shaft and its casing, (wheno e is used,-) 'is also de-- creased. The strips 0 steel being flat, and being necessarily wound obliquely across each other, keep their place, and the coils have no f tendency to work into each other, 'as the coilsof'round wire do. H v

.A sheath or casing, B, to protect the shaft,

constructed in m'anner similar to that of the ends of the coilsof the sheath may be welded vtogether'at both ends, as shown at 0, thus.

shaft, may be employed when desired. The

coils and prevent untwisting or uncoiling. It; 7

isobvious that the shaft-coil ends may-be welded together like. the sheath-coils, or the sheath may have'collars or short sleeves on shown in the drawings, in turning to the right the inner and outer coils contract while the center coil expands or partially unwinds against the outer coil,and in turning to the left the inner and outer coils expand, and the center" coil contracts against the inner coil. Thus ;we make a self -adjusting shaft with much of the rigidity of a solid shaft. Three or more round wires may be used instead of the flat strips to make a reversible shaft; but we prefer the flat strips because of their su-' periority for the purpose over the round wire.

The sheath B may be used as a drivingshaft as well as the internal shaft A, toenable two tools or parts of a machine to be driven in opposite directions from the compound shaft thus formed; or, when considerable power is needed to do the work re'quired, the sheath and shaft may be united to a common tool or machine, and to the engine or motor, so as to revolve together.

The connection of the shaft with the engine, and with the tool or device to be operated, may be made in .any of the usual ways, and

the tubular shaft or sheath B, when used sim- I ply as a sheath or casing, is suitably secured in place at its ends in any of the well-known ways, so as to remain stationary during the rotation of the shaft 'A. In dental practice it is very important that the direction of ro-' tation of the shaft should be readily reversible, in order to protect the soft parts of the mouth in certain positions in which the'operator is compelled to work. Out three'coil shaft, (whether of round wire or flat strips therefore, has a great advantage over those of the usual construction, intended to run only in one direction. It is also much stronger than the flexible shafts as usually heretofore made, and with it we can drive a tool or use it for work that they are incapable of.

We are aware that -two coils of round wire have been formed into a flexible shaft by being wound in opposite directions. Such a shaft, however, is not reversible, and we do not claim such construction. We are not aware that any flexible shaft prior to our invention had been composed of any number of flat steel strips, as described, or of three or more coils of round wire or flat strips coiled in opposite directions.

We claim as of our own invention- 1. A flexible shaft, constructed, as hereinbefore described, of spring-coils, composed of flat metallic strips or ribbons, coiled in reverse directions.

- 2. The sheath or casing, constructed, as hereg inbefore described, of spring-coils composed of flat metallic strips or ribbons coiled in reverse directions, and adapted to envelop the shaft.

3. Theoombination, substantially as herein before set forth, of the shaft composed of reverse coils, and the similarly constructed enveloping-sheath.

4. The hereinbefore-described flexible shaft, composed of three or more coils, with the ad jaceut coils wound in opposite directions, to render the shaft reversible.

In testimony whereof we have hereifnto subscribed our names.

GIVILION FONES. WM. J. BAULIEU. Witnesses:

CURTIS Tno'ntrsolw. JOHN CROWLEY. 

